Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be defeated in the 2027 presidential election, arguing that the outcome of the 2026 Osun State governorship election has demonstrated that incumbency and federal influence cannot guarantee electoral victory.
Dalung, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), stated this on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
He said the Osun election had laid the foundation for what Nigerians should expect in the 2027 general elections, insisting that voters had demonstrated their determination to defend democracy.
According to him, the outcome of the election confirmed a prediction he made about the 2027 presidential contest.
“What happened in Osun is a confirmation of what I said two years ago, that even if Tinubu appointed his wife, Remi Tinubu, as Chief Justice of Nigeria and appointed Seyi, his son, as INEC chairman, he is going to be defeated woefully in 2027,” he said.
Dalung argued that the Osun election had shown that the political structure of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), its control of the federal government and what he described as “federal might” could not automatically translate into electoral victory.
“When the election in Osun has come and gone, it has laid the foundation that is going to play out in 2027. The issue of federal might, incumbency, APC being the party in government, has already been put to rest because Nigerians in Osun have proved that there is determination to defend democracy,” he said.
He further pointed to the presence of senior political figures and government officials during the Osun election, arguing that their mobilisation failed to secure victory for the APC.
“Despite the federal might, despite the 30 governors, 45 members of the National Assembly, national chairman, Senate president, Speaker, all congregating in Osun, APC suffered a humiliating defeat,” he said.
The former minister also criticised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over his reaction to the Osun election.
Dalung accused Wike of attempting to shift responsibility for the APC’s defeat to the ADC rather than addressing the resources allegedly deployed by the ruling party during the campaign.
“I think reacting to that is what my friend, the Minister of FCT, is trying to cover up. The share of how they lost in Osun, and so for him, he can relocate that blame to look at the ADC. But why is he not talking of the huge mobilisation resources from all the states wasted there and the humiliating loss APC suffered?” he asked.
He maintained that the ADC should not be blamed for the outcome of the election, stressing that the result reflected the decision of voters.
According to Dalung, the significance of the Osun election lies in the fact that it showed that political power, incumbency and government structures alone cannot determine the outcome of elections.
Speaking on the 2027 presidential election, Dalung said the contest would not simply be about Tinubu or the opposition parties but about the candidate Nigerians would choose at the polls.
“2027 is not going to be an issue of Tinubu; it is not even going to be an issue of opposition. No. But the man Nigerians are going to be electing in 2027,” he said.
He identified regional considerations and the performance of the Tinubu administration as factors that could influence the outcome of the next presidential election.
“In 2027, regionalism is going to be a factor in the determination of the election. In 2027, too, the President’s performance is going to be an issue,” said the former minister.
Dalung said he remained convinced that Tinubu would lose the election despite the movement of several governors into the APC.
“But on the overall, the President will be defeated woefully because he has assembled the people who have also abandoned the people. The governors whom he has brought to his party can never bail him out. It has been established in Osun. Their gatherings were gatherings of mourners,” he said.
